Process of manufacturing cream cheese products



Patented Nov. 9:, 1 93 7" \A 2,098,785 I rnocnss or MANUrAcrUnmq-cnmra P T NToFFIC CHEESE PRODUCTS Caspar P. Sharpless, Swarthmore, Pa, assignor to Milk Processes, lnc., Phlladclphiap Pa a corporation of Pennsylvania No Drawing:

.3 Claims.

I The present invention relates to the manufacture'of soft cheese of the characterof cream cheese and food products spreads of which the ingredients of cream cheese form the base. I Such 5 food stuffs will be referred to hereinafter as cream-cheese. This application is acontinuation in partof my co-pendi'ng application Serial No.

- of acid,-milk solids, butter-fat and liquid in ap-' proximately the ratio desired in the finished cream cheese, thereby avoiding the necessity of development. of additional acidity by bacterial 2 action during the cheese-making process and the necessity of drainage of liquid and loss of butterfat incident to such drainage. a

' In the. manufacture of cream cheeses as conventionally practiced in this country by a process including the blending of ingredients in such a manner as to'obtain a large excess of liquid above that desired in the finished cream cheese, addition of starter for development'of acidity in the mixture of ingredients constituting all of those of the finished cream cheese and subsequent drainage of excess liquid, it is highly desirable that the cream or other source of butter-fat em-"- ployed as an'ingredient of the cream cheese be substantially neutral at the time it is blended with the other ingredients. -The use of 'sour' cream which'has been neutralized, or its equivalent in this connection, is objectionable in the practice of a conventional process of the character described above for two principal .reasons, as follows:

1. It is diflicult, inconnection with the-use of neutralized cream, to obtain the desired viscosity in the mixture of ingredients, and y Y 2. Creams which have been subjected to neutralizing treatment do not develop a suflicient degree of acidity as the result of the introduction of fresh starter to enable the op'erator'to efiect a clean break of the liquid which it is desired to drain from the curd and other ingredients desired in the finished cream cheese.

As, a result of the above limitations'with 'respectto the use of neutralized cream in the manufacture oi cream cheese by themore conventional processes, cream cheese makers of this country shun the use of neutralized cream in the Application January V1'], 1936, Serial No. 59,602 i production of cheeses of this character. If neutralized creams' could be satisfactorily usedin such processes, their use would represent a very substantial saving to the manufacturer, for sour creams can be obtained at much lower ,prices 5 than the fresh creams required in the preferred practice of prior art processes of cream cheese manufacture.

By the practice of the process of the present invention, neutralized sour creams may be used as the scurce of butter-fat to produce cream cheeses which are comparable in quality with those obtained by the use of fresh cream, thereby resulting in very substantial savings to the cheese manufacturer.

The practice of the present invention, like the practice of the invention of my co-pending application Serial No. 51,499, referred to above, involves'the step of blending ingredients contain- .ing butter-fat, water, milksclids, edible casein and edible acids in approximately the ratio desired in the finished cream cheese. As the result of the blending of these products in their desired ultimate ratio, no drainage step is necessary and it is-Inot necessary to age the che'ese product after the acid is added. As a result of the avoidance of the practice of these two steps 'of conventional practice, neutralized sour cream may be used in place of the fresh cream used in prior art processes, for it is not necessary in my process to effect a break of the cream cheese constituents from liquid present in the products which enter into the manufacture of the cream cheese and it is not necessary that acidity be developed by bacterial action during thecheesemaking process.

The present invention involves the blending of products entering into the composition of the desired cream cheese in the ratio ultimately desired, and the use, as a source of butter-fat, of neutralized sour cream, the neutralized cream preferably having a butter-fat content in excess .of The invention may, for example, be practiced by blending cottage cheese with water or skim milk and a cream product containing butter-fat in excessof 65% produced by neutralizing and centrifuging'sour cream. 'Edible acids which may be citric acid, lactic acid or a mixture thereof may also. be separately added to the product in case the cottage cheese does' I not contain a proportion of such acids as large as that desired in the cream cheese. 5 The invention mayalso be practiced by blending enough Neufchatel style curd having a small p portion of butter-fat with the desired propor- 66 genized at a temperature ordinarily used for homogenizing operations of this general charac-.

aqueous liquid and/or edible acids. In place of the cottage cheese or the Neuichate style curd or the above two examples, a mixture solids are compounded and intimately mixed together. The composition may, for example, be heated to a pasteurizing temperature and homoterfe. g., 120 to 175 I. At the c' nclusion of the homogenizing operation, the res ting material is packed in containers for storage, sale or ship ment and cooled.

In the practice oi the mixing step, a preferred form of procedure involves the performance of this-mixing step in a milder manner than that involved in the performance of conventional cream homogenizing operations. Such a mild homogenizing step may, for example, constitutepassage of the composition through a conventional cream homogenizer and discharge of such material'irom that homogenizer from a pressure between 100 and 1,000 pounds per square inch, instead oiemploying the higher pressures ordinarily used in cream homogenization. Alternatively, he mixing operation may be attained by e of the compoundedmaterials through a conventional colloid mill.

In any case, the compounded materials con-. tain substantially A liquid in excess or that de-' amen tion and concentration or neutralized sour cream, 7

in theiultimate cream and the step or drainage or liquid from the other ingr ents of the composition after the mixing 0 accordingly avoided. In view 01' this avoidance or the draining operation, the objectionable aspects of the use of neutralized sour cream in prior art cream cheese making operations are avoided, Alter. the composition has been subjected to the desired mixing-operation, it may be packed'ln -containers and cooled. After such cooling it has.

ion isa smooth creamy texture and an excellent .fiavor; v

Modifications will be obvious to those skilled in.the art and I do not therefore wish to be limited except by the scope 01' my sub-joined claims.

I claim:

1. A process oi. manufacturing a cream cheese which comprises intimately mixing materials comprising. neutralized sour cream with cottage cheese and edible acid in substantially the ratio desired in said finished cream cheese, and cooling the composition resulting from the mixing operation. 4

2. A process otmanuiafcturing a cream cheese which comprises intimately mixing materials comprising neutralized sour cream with dry edible casein and edible acid, milk solidsin substantially the ratio desired in the finished cream cheese,

and cooling the composition resulting from the mixing operation.

, 3. A process of manufacturinga "cream cheese which comprises vintimately mixing materials comprising neutralized sour bream in excessof 65% butter fat with dry edible casein, edible acid "andmilk solids in substantially the ratio desired in the finished cream cheese, and cooling the composition resulting from the mixing operation.

ca'sran P. 

